Photo by: Sam Janicki
Stanich, Beard Win Individual Titles At Midlands Championships
12/30/2023 10:38:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Two Lehigh wrestlers won individual titles at the 59th Midlands Championships, Friday-Saturday at NOW Arena. First-year Luke Stanich (125) and junior Michael Beard (197) won Lehigh's seventh and eighth undergraduate titles at the prestigious late December event. Stanich, competing unattached, became the first Lehigh true first-year to win a Midlands title.
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The wins for Stanich and Beard also marked the first time that Lehigh crowned two champions at a single Midlands tournament.
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A fourth place finish at 197 made sophomore JT Davis Lehigh's third Midlands placewinner. In all, six Mountain Hawks competed in the event just outside Chicago. Beard, Davis and first-year Kelvin Griffin (149) competed attached, while Stanich, first-year Matt Repos (149) and sophomore Hunter Mays (165) competed unattached.
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Stanich went 5-0 on the way to the title at 125. Along the way, the final four wrestlers he defeated all placed in the top five at the Midlands Championships. Day one began with a pair of pins and concluded with an 8-5 decision over Wisconsin's Eric Barnett.
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In the semifinals Saturday, Stanich got past Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn 5-3 on the strength of a first period takedown. Stanich faced Elijah Grifin of California Baptist in the finals. Griffin scored the first takedown but Stanich came back in the second with a strong ride and a takedown to tie the bout at 4-4 after two periods. Stanich escaped early in the third period to go up 5-4. Griffin scored a late takedown to go up 7-5, but an escape and a riding time point sent the bout to overtime tied 7-7. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Stanich rode out the first half of the tiebreaker and after being granted an escape, held his ground in the second half to win 8-7.
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Beard went 5-0 with five bonus point victories to claim the title at 197. On Friday, Beard won his first two bouts by technical fall before claiming a 16-6 major decision over Sonny Sasso of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals.
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In the semifinals, Beard met another Virginia Tech wrestler in Andy Smith. He led 4-0 in the second period when he took Smith down and then took him to his back for a pin at the 4:53 mark. Beard squared off against Princeton's Luke Stout in the finals and claimed a 15-0 technical fall in 5:45 to claim the title. A takedown and four-point near fall gave Beard a 7-0 lead early and he never looked back, adding an escape, a penalty point and two more takedowns to claim the victory.
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Lehigh's Midlands titles were the first since Mitch Minotti won at 149 in December 2013.
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Davis enjoyed a strong showing, going 6-2 at 197 on the way to fourth place. After losing 9-3 to Stout in the round of 16, Davis reeled off five straight victories to earn his podium place and reach the third place bout. He posted two falls and a major decision among his victories and defeated Sasso 8-3 to secure his spot on the podium. In the third place bout, Davis fell 1-0 to Penn's Cole Urbas with the only point coming via riding time as Urbas rode out the second period.
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Griffin, Repos and Mays were all eliminated Friday with 2-2 records. Mays opened his tournament with a 7-3 decision over Rutgers' No. 6 seed Anthony White before dropping his round of 16 bout to Dan Patten of Cleveland State. He won his first consolation bout by major decision over Bradley Gillum of SIU Edwardsville before being eliminated by Tracy Hubbard of Central Michigan.
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Both 149-pounders dropped their round of 32 bouts and won two straight in the consolations before being eliminated in the third round of consolation action.
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Griffin's two wins came against wrestlers from Illinois, including a second period pin over Jake Reicin. Repos beat Harvard's Kenny Herrmann 5-2 and pinned Ryan Fleck of the University of Chicago before running into No. 1 seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State on the backside.
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The Mountain Hawks will send a contingent to the Jan. 5 David H. Lehman F&M Open in Lancaster, Pa. The dual season resumes when Lehigh hosts EIWA rivals Binghamton and Cornell, Jan. 12-13 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets to all remaining home duals can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-758-4263 during business hours.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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125 – Luke Stanich (Unattached) – 1st place
Rd. of 32: Fall Luqman Masud (Missouri) 0:58
Rd. of 16: Fall Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 4:16
Quarterfinal: dec. Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 8-5
Semifinal: dec. Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) 5-3
Final: dec. Elijah Griffin (California Baptist) 8-7, tb
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149 – Kelvin Griffin – dnp
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Quinn Kinner (Rider) 5-0
First round consolation: Fall Jake Reicin (Illinois) 4:44
Second round consolation: dec. Jake Harrier (Illinois) 5-0
Third round consolation: L by tech fall Cross Wasilewski (Penn RTC) 18-1, 5:52
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149 – Matt Repos (Unattached) – dnp
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Brock Herman (Ohio State) 8-5, sv
First round consolation: dec. Kenny Herrmann (Harvard) 5-2
Second round consolation: Fall Ryan Fleck (U. of Chicago) 2:31
Third round consolation: L by dec. Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 8-1
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165 – Hunter Mays (Unattached) - dnp
Rd. of 32: dec. Anthony White (Rutgers) 7-3
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Dan Patten (Cleveland State) 2-0
Third round consolation: major dec. Bradley Gillum (SIUE) 11-3
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. Tracy Hubbard (CMU) 8-2
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197 – Michael Beard – 1st place
Rd. of 32: tech fall Carter Blough (Michigan State) 17-1, 4:13
Rd. of 16: tech fall Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) 18-1, 1:59
Quarterfinal: major dec. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) 16-6
Semifinal: Fall Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 4:53
Final: tech fall Luke Stout (Princeton) 15-0, 5:45
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197 – JT Davis – 4th place
Rd. of 32: Fall Damion Schunke (Arizona State) 4:54
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Luke Stout (Princeton) 9-3
Third round consolation: Fall Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) 1:34
Fourth round consolation: dec. Evan Bates (Northwestern) 4-1
Fifth round consolation: dec. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) 8-3
Consolation quarterfinal: major dec. Kael Wisler (Michigan St.) 17-4
Consolation semifinal: won by medical forfeit over Cam Caffey (Unattached)
Third place match: L by dec. Cole Urbas (Penn) 1-0
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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The wins for Stanich and Beard also marked the first time that Lehigh crowned two champions at a single Midlands tournament.
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A fourth place finish at 197 made sophomore JT Davis Lehigh's third Midlands placewinner. In all, six Mountain Hawks competed in the event just outside Chicago. Beard, Davis and first-year Kelvin Griffin (149) competed attached, while Stanich, first-year Matt Repos (149) and sophomore Hunter Mays (165) competed unattached.
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Stanich went 5-0 on the way to the title at 125. Along the way, the final four wrestlers he defeated all placed in the top five at the Midlands Championships. Day one began with a pair of pins and concluded with an 8-5 decision over Wisconsin's Eric Barnett.
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In the semifinals Saturday, Stanich got past Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn 5-3 on the strength of a first period takedown. Stanich faced Elijah Grifin of California Baptist in the finals. Griffin scored the first takedown but Stanich came back in the second with a strong ride and a takedown to tie the bout at 4-4 after two periods. Stanich escaped early in the third period to go up 5-4. Griffin scored a late takedown to go up 7-5, but an escape and a riding time point sent the bout to overtime tied 7-7. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Stanich rode out the first half of the tiebreaker and after being granted an escape, held his ground in the second half to win 8-7.
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Beard went 5-0 with five bonus point victories to claim the title at 197. On Friday, Beard won his first two bouts by technical fall before claiming a 16-6 major decision over Sonny Sasso of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals.
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In the semifinals, Beard met another Virginia Tech wrestler in Andy Smith. He led 4-0 in the second period when he took Smith down and then took him to his back for a pin at the 4:53 mark. Beard squared off against Princeton's Luke Stout in the finals and claimed a 15-0 technical fall in 5:45 to claim the title. A takedown and four-point near fall gave Beard a 7-0 lead early and he never looked back, adding an escape, a penalty point and two more takedowns to claim the victory.
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Lehigh's Midlands titles were the first since Mitch Minotti won at 149 in December 2013.
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Davis enjoyed a strong showing, going 6-2 at 197 on the way to fourth place. After losing 9-3 to Stout in the round of 16, Davis reeled off five straight victories to earn his podium place and reach the third place bout. He posted two falls and a major decision among his victories and defeated Sasso 8-3 to secure his spot on the podium. In the third place bout, Davis fell 1-0 to Penn's Cole Urbas with the only point coming via riding time as Urbas rode out the second period.
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Griffin, Repos and Mays were all eliminated Friday with 2-2 records. Mays opened his tournament with a 7-3 decision over Rutgers' No. 6 seed Anthony White before dropping his round of 16 bout to Dan Patten of Cleveland State. He won his first consolation bout by major decision over Bradley Gillum of SIU Edwardsville before being eliminated by Tracy Hubbard of Central Michigan.
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Both 149-pounders dropped their round of 32 bouts and won two straight in the consolations before being eliminated in the third round of consolation action.
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Griffin's two wins came against wrestlers from Illinois, including a second period pin over Jake Reicin. Repos beat Harvard's Kenny Herrmann 5-2 and pinned Ryan Fleck of the University of Chicago before running into No. 1 seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State on the backside.
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The Mountain Hawks will send a contingent to the Jan. 5 David H. Lehman F&M Open in Lancaster, Pa. The dual season resumes when Lehigh hosts EIWA rivals Binghamton and Cornell, Jan. 12-13 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets to all remaining home duals can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-758-4263 during business hours.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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125 – Luke Stanich (Unattached) – 1st place
Rd. of 32: Fall Luqman Masud (Missouri) 0:58
Rd. of 16: Fall Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 4:16
Quarterfinal: dec. Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 8-5
Semifinal: dec. Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) 5-3
Final: dec. Elijah Griffin (California Baptist) 8-7, tb
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149 – Kelvin Griffin – dnp
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Quinn Kinner (Rider) 5-0
First round consolation: Fall Jake Reicin (Illinois) 4:44
Second round consolation: dec. Jake Harrier (Illinois) 5-0
Third round consolation: L by tech fall Cross Wasilewski (Penn RTC) 18-1, 5:52
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149 – Matt Repos (Unattached) – dnp
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Brock Herman (Ohio State) 8-5, sv
First round consolation: dec. Kenny Herrmann (Harvard) 5-2
Second round consolation: Fall Ryan Fleck (U. of Chicago) 2:31
Third round consolation: L by dec. Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 8-1
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165 – Hunter Mays (Unattached) - dnp
Rd. of 32: dec. Anthony White (Rutgers) 7-3
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Dan Patten (Cleveland State) 2-0
Third round consolation: major dec. Bradley Gillum (SIUE) 11-3
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. Tracy Hubbard (CMU) 8-2
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197 – Michael Beard – 1st place
Rd. of 32: tech fall Carter Blough (Michigan State) 17-1, 4:13
Rd. of 16: tech fall Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) 18-1, 1:59
Quarterfinal: major dec. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) 16-6
Semifinal: Fall Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 4:53
Final: tech fall Luke Stout (Princeton) 15-0, 5:45
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197 – JT Davis – 4th place
Rd. of 32: Fall Damion Schunke (Arizona State) 4:54
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Luke Stout (Princeton) 9-3
Third round consolation: Fall Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) 1:34
Fourth round consolation: dec. Evan Bates (Northwestern) 4-1
Fifth round consolation: dec. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) 8-3
Consolation quarterfinal: major dec. Kael Wisler (Michigan St.) 17-4
Consolation semifinal: won by medical forfeit over Cam Caffey (Unattached)
Third place match: L by dec. Cole Urbas (Penn) 1-0
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
197
/ Men's Wrestling
184/197
/ Men's Wrestling
141/149
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
125/133
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